Euchre

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Euchre

A perfect loner hand for spades trump
Origin Europe, Canada, South Africa
Type Trick-taking
Players 4
Skill(s) required Memory, Tactics, Communication
Cards 24-32
Deck Anglo-American
Play Clockwise
Card rank (highest to lowest) J (of trump suit) J (of same color) A K Q 10 9, sometimes 8 7
Playing time 25 min.
Random chance Medium
Related games
500, Skat

Euchre /ˈjuːkər/ or eucre is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 24, or sometimes 32, standard playing cards. It is the game responsible for introducing the joker into modern packs; this was invented around 1860 to act as a top trump or best bower (from the German word Bauer, "farmer", denoting also the jack).[1] It is believed to be closely related to the French game Écarté that was popularized in the United States by the Cornish and Pennsylvania Dutch,[2] and to the seventeenth-century game of bad repute Loo. It may be sometimes referred to as Knock Euchre to distinguish it from Bid Euchre.

Origins

Euchre appears to have been introduced into the United States by the early German settlers of the state of Wisconsin,[3] and from that state gradually to have been disseminated throughout the nation. It has been more recently theorized that the game and its name derives from an eighteenth-century Alsatian card game named Juckerspiel,[4] a derivative of Triomphe. Also, it may have been introduced by immigrants from Cornwall, England, where it remains a popular game. It is also played in the neighboring county of Devon; one theory is that it was introduced by French or American prisoners of war imprisoned in Dartmoor prison during the early 19th century. Ombre is an ancestral form of Euchre.[5]

No mention of Euchre is made in the treatise by Samuel Weller Singer, entitled Researches into the History of Playing Cards, 4to., London, 1816; nor in any of the English editions of Hoyle's Games; nor in Captain Crawley's Handy Book of Games for Gentlemen, 12mo., London, 1860. No notice of the game is to be found in the long and learned array of articles on the various games of cards in the Album des Jeux, 12mo., Paris, 1847, a careful collection of modern games of cards by M. Van-Tenac, and its name is legion in the extended Dictionnaire des Jeux of the Encyclopedic Methodique.

In the United States the only teaching of the game, except a few paragraphs in the late American editions of Hoyle's Games, and of Bonn's New Hand-Book of Games, is contained in The Game of Euchre; with its Laws, 32mo., Philadelphia, 1850, pp. 32, attributed to a late learned jurist.[6]

The game has declined in popularity since the 19th century, when it was widely regarded as the national card game, but it retains a strong following in some regions like the Midwest, especially Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Western New York. In recent years, it has regained some popularity in the Eastern United States in the form of Bacon. It is played differently from region to region and even within regions. In Canada, the game is still very popular in Ontario, and the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand all have large followings of the game.

Recently, the game has slowly started making its way back across the US. Areas across the West Coast have seen a recent spark in Euchre play. The game culture is traveling with the droves of people traveling and moving from the Midwest/East Coast to the West Coast. Most notably in the areas of Southern California (i.e. Long beach and the surrounding cities) the game has sparked recent popularity. There is a cult following of the game among young college students and recent graduates.

Dealing

Conventional euchre is a four-player trump game, wherein the players are paired to form two partnerships. Partners face each other from across the table so that the play of the cards in conventional clockwise order alternates between the two partnerships.

Conventional euchre uses a deck of 24 standard playing cards consisting of A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 of each of the four suits. A standard 52-card deck can be used, omitting the cards from 2 to 8, or a Pinochle deck may be divided in half to form two euchre decks. In some countries, the common 32-card piquet or skat deck is used, which includes the 7s and 8s.

Each player is dealt five cards (or seven if using the 32-card deck) in clockwise order in two rounds. The cards may be dealt in whatever pattern the dealer chooses, as long as all cards are dealt within two rounds (ie, 1-4-1-4-4-1-4-1, 2-3-2-3-3-2-3-2, etc).

The remaining four cards are called the kitty and are placed face down in front of the dealer toward the center on the table. The top card of the kitty is then turned face up, and bidding begins. The dealer asks each of the other players in turn if they would like the suit of the top card to be trump, which they indicate by saying "pick it up" and the top card becomes part of the dealer's hand, who then discards a card face down to return their hand to five cards. If no one orders up the top card, each player is given the opportunity, in turn, to call a different suit as trump. If no trump is selected, it is a misdeal, and the deal is passed clockwise (unless it was agreed upon to play stick the dealer, an option that involves forcing the dealer to choose a trump).

When a suit is named trump, the jack in the suit of the same color as this trump suit becomes a powerful member of this trump suit. Then any card of that (expanded) suit outranks any card of a non-trump suit. The highest-ranking card in euchre is the Jack of the trump suit (called 'The Right Bower' or 'Right') then the other Jack of the same color, (called 'The Left Bower' or 'Left'). The cards are ranked, in descending order, J (of trump suit) J (same color as trump suit) A, K, Q, 10, and 9 of the trump suit.

The remaining cards rank in the usual order (the off-color jacks are not special) and the cards of those suits rank from high to low as A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9.

Example

Assume a hand is dealt and that spades are named as trump. In this event, the trump cards are as follows, from highest-ranking to lowest:

  1. Jack of spades (right bower)
  2. Jack of clubs (left bower)
  3. Ace of spades
  4. King of spades
  5. Queen of spades
  6. 10 of spades
  7. 9 of spades

Here, the jack of clubs becomes a spade during the playing of this hand. This expands the trump suit to the seven cards named above and reduces the suit of the same color (sometimes referred to as the next suit) by one card (the jack is loaned to the trump suit). The same principles are observed for whatever suit is named trump. Remembering this temporary transfer of the next suit's jack is one of the principal difficulties newcomers have with the game of euchre.

Once the above hand is finished, the jack of clubs ceases to be a spade and becomes a club again unless spades are again named as trump during the playing of the subsequent hand.

Depending on regional or house rules, a player may steal the deal from the opposing team. To steal the deal, the partner of the previous dealer collects the cards, shuffles and deals as normal. If the opponent team does not notice that they have been skipped before dealing is finished then game play proceeds as normal. If the opponent team notices, they must say something which indicates this, and the deal is returned to the player who would normally deal next in the rotation. Normally there is no penalty for attempting to steal the deal, successful or not, and the next hand is dealt by the player to left of the player who stole the deal.

Play

Overview, objective and scoring

In euchre, naming trump is sometimes referred to as making, calling, or declaring trump. When naming a suit, a player asserts that his or her partnership intends to win the majority of tricks in the hand. A single point is scored when the bid succeeds, and two points are scored if the team that declared trump takes all five tricks. A failure of the calling partnership to win three tricks is referred to as being euchred or "bumped" and is penalized by giving the opposing partnership two points.

A caller with exceptionally good cards can go alone, or take a loner hand, in which case he or she seeks to win all five tricks without a partner. The partner of a caller in a loner hand does not play, and if all five tricks are won by the caller the winning team scores 4 points. If only three or four of the tricks are taken while going alone, then only one point is scored. If euchred while playing alone, the opposing team still only receives 2 points.

The primary rule to remember when playing euchre is that one is never required to play the trump suit (unless that is the one that is led), but one is required to follow suit if possible to do so: if diamonds are led, a player with diamonds is required to play a diamond.

Calling round (Naming trump)

Once the cards are dealt and the top card in the pile is turned over, the upturned card's suit is offered as trump to the players in clockwise order beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. If a player wishes the proposed suit to be named trump, he orders up the dealer, who must add that card to his hand. If all other players pass, the dealer can opt to pick up the card, declaring trump. The dealer must discard a card face down in order to return his hand to five cards. This discard is an important tactical decision, as the dealer can create a "void" in their hand, where they lack any cards of a suit, allowing them to play a trump card instead of being forced to follow suit (see the later section on winning tricks and "two-suited" in Terminology).

If all players pass, the top card is turned face down and that suit may no longer be chosen as trump. Trump selection proceeds clockwise beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. The dealer is not ordered up in this round. If no suit is chosen, the cards are reshuffled and the deal passes to the player on the dealer's left, or if playing "stick the dealer" the dealer is required to call trump.

The team that selects trump is known as the makers for the remainder of the hand, and the opposing team is known as the defenders. The makers must take at least three of the five tricks in the hand in order to avoid being euchred.

Winning tricks

The player to the dealer's left begins play by leading a card. Play continues in clockwise order; each player must follow suit if they have a card of the suit led. The left bower is considered a member of the trump suit and not a member of its native suit.

The player who played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless trump is played, when the highest trump card wins the trick. Players who play neither the suit led nor trump cannot win the trick. The player that won the trick collects the played cards from the table and then leads the next trick.

After all five tricks have been played, the hand is scored. The player to the left of the previous dealer then deals the next hand, and the deal moves clockwise around the table until one partnership scores 10 points and wins the game.

Going alone

If the player bidding (making trump) has an exceptionally good hand, the player making trump has the option of playing without his or her partner. If the bidder playing alone wins all five tricks in the hand, the team scores four points.

"Going alone",[7] "going solo", or "playing alone hand," is initiated at the time the bidder orders the upturned card on the kitty to the dealer or names a suit. The bidder signifies his or her desire to play alone by saying so after bidding. The bidder must make this call before play begins. During a loner, the bidder's partner discards his or her cards, and does not participate in play of the hand.

The odds of success of a loner bid depend on the lay of the cards and the inactive cards held by the bidder's partner. Nine cards out of twenty-four do not participate in play, making the hand less predictable than otherwise. A hand consisting of the top five cards of the trump suit is mathematically unbeatable from any position; this is sometimes referred to as a lay-down, as a player with such a hand may often simply lay all five cards on the table at once.

Scoring

Scoring in Euchre Points
Bidding partnership (makers) wins 3 or 4 tricks 1
Bidding partnership (makers) wins 5 tricks 2
Bidder goes alone and wins 3 or 4 tricks 1
Bidder goes alone and wins 5 tricks 4
Defenders win 3 or more tricks 2
Defender goes alone and wins 3 or more tricks (regional) 4

The first team to score 10 (sometimes 5, 7, 11, or 15) points wins the game. Some players choose to play win by two where there is no winner until a team has more than 10 points and 2 points more than the other team. Winning a game 10-0 is known as skunking.

Score keeping

Scores are kept by using two cards, typically the five cards of the same colour with one team choosing a red suit and the other a black suit. Using the four and six card of any suit also is acceptable. Scoring begins using the six card (face up), covered by the four card (face down). Upon winning points, the four card is moved to reveal the appropriate number of suit symbols on the six card. After six points, the four card is flipped up to cover the six card, showing pips on both cards to total the score.

Betting

When placing bets on a euchre game, betting takes place after the trump is determined, and before the first card is played on that trick. Betting can start with an ante or forced bet. The defenders can either check on the bid and bid nothing, thereby likely losing their ante, call the bid, or if they feel confident that they can euchre - raise the bid. Once a bet has been settled by a call on the bid, the trick plays out, with the winners of the bet adding that bet to their pot. After the game has been won, the winning team then splits the pot between the two winners and the game can end there, or variants can be played over multiple games.

Betting in euchre can also be done on a per trick basis or a per point basis. At the end of the game, the losing team owes the winning team the difference in points based on the monetary value set per point.

Table talking

Communicating with one's partner to influence their play, called table talk or cross-boarding, is considered cheating. This can include code words, secret gestures, or other forms of cooperative play in which one player can inform his partner what he holds in his hand or what the partner should play in a trick or call when choosing trump. Depending on house rules, table talk can result in replaying of a hand or awarding of a point to the team calling out the infraction.

Some variations allow (or at least accept the inevitability of) the minor non-verbal communication in that a player may hesitate before passing on trump selection to signal to his partner that his cards are helpful to the offered trump, but are not sufficient to guarantee a win. This adds an additional element of strategy in that players may bluff hesitation to discourage the opponent from calling the offered trump.

Reneging

If a player does not follow suit when he is able to (usually by playing a trump card instead), it is considered a renege and cheating, and the opposing team is rewarded two points if it is caught in later tricks of the same hand. However reneges can also be unintentional, where a player misreads some of his/her cards, most commonly by misinterpreting the left bower as being of its native suit, but are still callable by opponents as reneging. In some variants reneging when a player or his opponent is going alone may result in a penalty of four points in order to equalize the potential values of a hand. The four point penalty for reneging should apply equally for the maker of trump and the opposing team. [the value of a renege has changed]

Variations in play

Main article: Euchre game variations

After the first round (once the kitty's top card had been turned down), it is also possible to choose "No trump", in which case each suit retains its normal order (ace being the highest card of the suit). There is naturally no way to cut a given suit in this variant, hence the first played card will make the trick, provided it is the highest remaining card in this suit.

Euchre is a game with a large number of variant versions and alternate rules. They include versions for two to nine players, as well as changes in cards used, bidding, play, and scoring.

Many of these variations are specific to a particular region. In Australia and New Zealand, playing to 11 rather than 10 points is common. In southwestern England and Guernsey, variations with a joker as highest trump are played. In Ontario and parts of NZ after the dealer turns up the top card on the kitty if the first player to the left passes and the dealer's partner would like to order up the dealer, the dealer's partner must play alone.

Terminology

Euchre terminology varies greatly from region to region, and is highly colloquial. Some examples include:

  • Ace-no-face: A hand with one Ace and the rest of the cards are 9s and 10s. Also called a "Coleman" hand.
  • Cut thin to win: Passing the deck after shuffling to the previous dealer to allow them to cut the deck in an attempt to prevent any stacking of the deck.
  • Closed Doors/In The Barn/All But: When a team is one point away from winning and flip both point cards down to show 9 points, often accompanied by using a hand gesture to milk the cows or putting the cards behind the ears.
  • Euchre/Getting "Set": Occurs when the opposing team wins more tricks than the team who called the suit.
  • Fishing Out/Drawing Out: The player to lead can on the first hand play a high card (typically an Ace) of a different suit from the trump, gambling that the opposing team will have at least one card each from that suit. The player would therefore say 'lets see what we can fish out'.
  • Four-suited: A hand of cards containing cards of all four suits, requiring the player to follow suit with any lead. A player might claim they were five-suited during a hand if they had only one low trump card, and a remaining hand of low off-suit cards.
  • Franking/Sprouting: Is when a player keeping score protrude the next suit symbol on the bottom counting card without fully exposing it. This action, usually performed by the currently winning team, has the effect of creating confusion and forcing the losing team to perform rash actions and decisions. This could include naming the wrong trump or naming trump with a weak hand. Multiple “Franks” can be achieved by positioning the top card in such a way to protrude several suit symbols. In NZ this can also be known as "hatching", and implies that you've started the points showing, and they're sure to "hatch"
  • Giving the Lead: Is when a player plays a low trump because their partner was the one who bid trump and should be able to win the trick. This gives their partner the lead off for the next hand.
  • Guarded Left or Protected Left: Having the left bower and another trump card in the player's hand; the left bower is protected because the player can sacrifice the lower trump card, if the right bower is led, leaving the left as the highest remaining trump card (i.e. guaranteed to take its trick). This can also be known as "bower and saviour"
  • Lay-Down: A hand that will automatically win all five tricks if played in the correct order; ex. a Dutchman plus, the king and queen of that suit, any other two trump cards, or one more trump card and an off-trump ace (when that player has the lead). Also called a Loner, or Lone Wolf, because a player with such a hand will typically opt to go alone. May also refer to any set of cards that are often played simultaneously when the player knows he will win all the tricks he lays for. This however may only be done within the same suit without giving up a slight advantage to the other players.
  • Milking the Cow: A celebratory gesture done when a team is in the barn (have 9 points) in which one partner interlocks his fingers with his thumbs pointing down while the other pretend the thumbs are udders and milk them.
  • Opening the Barn: Similar to Milking the Cow, this is a celebratory gesture done when a team receives their eighth point in which one partner puts their hands together, fingertips touching, and the other partner "opens" the hands.
  • Perfect Game: When a team wins 13-0. This can be done by winning a loner hand on a score of 9-0. Different from a "skunk" which refers to a score of 10-0.
  • Pulling Trump: When the player left of the dealer plays the right on the first hand in an attempt to rid the other players of their trump cards; usually done when a player does not have both the right and left and therefore plays the right in the hopes of "fishing" the left out. Pulling trump is also used when a player has the left and ace but not the right. By playing either one that player is forcing whoever has the right to play it in order to win the trick; making whichever one the player kept the highest remaining trump card.
  • Screw the Dealer or Stick the Dealer: An optional rule that states that if trump is failed to be called it must be called by the dealer, who is last to act. Mainly used as a method to speed up the game, as it eliminates throw-in hands.
  • Stopper or Blocker: Winning one trick to stop the opposing team (who called the trump suit) from winning all five tricks.
  • Throw-in: When trump is failed to be called after two rounds around the table, a throw-in is declared. The dealing partnership forfeits the hand, and dealership is passed.
  • Trump the Partner: Refers to a situation where the last player plays the card that wins a trick that his partner would have otherwise won. Usually refers to a situation where the partner has an Ace that follows suit and the player plays a trump card, but playing a higher trump or non-trump than the partner's qualifies. It is generally accepted strategy to throw a low off-suit card rather than a trump when the partner is guaranteed to win the trick otherwise.
  • Turn down a bower, lose for an hour/Pass on the right, lose all night: A superstitious saying, commonly said when trying to intimidate a player that has turned down a bower as trump.
  • Two-suited: A hand of only cards of two suits, or a player with such. This allows the player to often avoid following suit, which can be very advantageous. A player calling trump on the up card will often discard a lone card of a particular suit, even an ace, in order to achieve this advantage. (Also known as dual-suited, double-suited, or short-suited).
  • Up-cut: Playing a higher trump on a trick which was previously cut. (Also known as Over-trumping, Up-trumping or Re-cutting)
  • Stay Home: When calling a loner hand, the player will tell his or her partner to "stay home," signaling that they are about to try a lone hand, and the partner should lay down his/her cards and just watch.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, David Parlett - pg.104
  2. ↑ The Everything Card Games Book: A Complete Guide to Over 50 Games, p. 128, Nikki Katz ISBN 1-59337-130-6
  3. ↑ Notes and Queries, p. 427 - Bell & Daldy, London 1862
  4. ↑ Parlett's Historic Card Games: Euchre
  5. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, David Parlett, pg. 124 ISBN 0-19-869173-4
  6. ↑ The law and practice of the games of euchre, p. 26, Charles Henry Wharton Meehan - Peterson & Brothers, 1862
  7. ↑ Safire's political dictionary, p. 283, William Safire - Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-534334-2
    American politicians have been either proud of themselves or critical of others for "going it alone" since about 1850, when card players began using this phrase to designate a player's decision to take in his tricks without the help of his partner. It may only be called by the person declaring trump, not their partner.
  • Phillips, Hubert & Westall, B. C. (1939) The Complete Book of Card Games. London: Witherby (Under the name Five hundred, pp. 172–175)

External links

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